


It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

by noonaofdarkness



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Heavy Drinking, Humor, Illegal Activities, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-08-10 02:49:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7827466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noonaofdarkness/pseuds/noonaofdarkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baekhyun knew he was an idiot, which is exactly why when he needed someone to bail him out of jail, he thought it would be a good idea to call the poor loser who asked him out with a business card while waiting in line for the bathroom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

_Well this is awkward_ , Baekhyun thought as he waited in line outside the bathroom door. He blamed his slightly inebriated state (those four shots Jongdae had poured him in addition to his cup of jungle juice), his petite size and proportionally small bladder for making him wait in line for the restroom every hour on the hour. However, it was neither his bladder nor his slight buzz that had him cringing.

 

Next to Baekhyun stood an abnormally tall boy who was standing ever-so-slightly too close to Baekhyun's personal bubble, awkwardly fidgeting with his hands and stealing frequent glances in Baekhyun’s direction. The boy was technically behind him in line, and _of course_ he decided to make conversation.

 

“Hey Baekhyun, it’s nice to see you here,” the boy finally said after what seemed like a mini pep talk with himself. He peered down at Baekhyun expectantly, making Baekhyun even more aware of his small stature.

 

“Hey….?”

 

“Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol. We have Postmodernism together on Wednesdays?” Tall boy offered with a hopeful smile.

 

Baekhyun pictured his Wednesday morning class in an attempt to place the boy. Admittedly, he was only taking Postmodernism as a Humanities requirement and he didn’t pay much attention to the lectures. He went in every week with his laptop and spent most of class time in the back row, browsing the internet and drowning out the boring philosophical lecture. Not that he really could pay much attention with that tall asshole who always decided to sit directly in front of him and block his view. The one with the unruly head of brown hair who seemed unable to sit still through the lecture.

 

Wait. Chanyeol was that asshole.

 

_Oh._

 

“Right, right” Baekhyun said after the new revelation, recalling how Chanyeol (aka Tall Asshole) always had something to say about the readings and could wax poetic about Jameson or Lefebre. Most of the time, Baekhyun was able to blend classroom discussions into background noise for his web browsing, but Chanyeol had an exceptionally deep and commanding voice that was hard to ignore. His very enthusiastic hand-raising also didn’t help matters.

 

“How’s the party going for you?” Chanyeol probed in and overly-obvious attempt to engage Baekhyun in conversation.

 

“Same old, same old,” Baekhyun responded, sighing for dramatic effect before continuing, “the idiots I came here with are nowhere to be found but there’s alcohol and dancing. Seems like your run-of-the-mill college party."

 

At this, Chanyeol smiled; apparently happy to have coaxed a full sentence out of Baekhyun.

 

"Parties aren't really my thing," Chanyeol sheepishly admitted while running his hands through his hair, "but Sehun is a good friend and his house is pretty rad."

 

"Pretty rad indeed," Baekhyun mimicked, "I guess that might be the only benefit of still living with your parents through college." Baekhyun dragged out each word as he tore his eyes away from Chanyeol's distracting fidgeting to take in the mess of a house. A silent prayer began to run through his mind that whoever was taking their sweet time in the bathroom would soon complete their business so he could make a swift escape into the privacy of the bathroom.

 

Luck didn't appear to be on his side.

 

Chanyeol seemed to sense the awkward atmosphere but continued on in spite of it.

 

“So… um, I know we haven’t really talked… like ever… but um, I think you’re interesting and I was wondering if I could take you out for coffee some time?” It all came out in a bit stunted, with Chanyeol focusing mainly on his own fingers. Baekhyun, distracted by Chanyeol’s fidgeting, took a moment to realize what just happened.

 

Tall Asshole had asked him out. While he was waiting in line for the bathroom. Beautiful.

 

Baekhyun was trying to formulate an escape, but his bladder had needs and was about thirty seconds from bursting whether he found a toilet or not. As if the gates of Heaven opened up, the glow of a fluorescent light began to illuminate the small hallway as the bathroom door cracked open and its occupant[s] ushered themselves out.

 

Baekhyun thanked Jesus, Buddha, Sejong the Great and any other figure he could name, for his fortune.

 

However, before he could duck inside the safety of the bathroom with eloquent excuse of "I really have to pee," Chanyeol had placed a hand on Baekhyun's arm, effectively halting his escape.

 

“I know this is probably weird for you, cause you don’t know me like at all. But uh, here’s my number if you ever consider it.” With that, he handed Baekhyun a business card.

 

_Who actually gives out their number on a business card? What is this guy?_

 

Baekhyun forced a smile, taking the pre-offered card from Chanyeol's hand before cramming himself in the bathroom and shoving the business card in his pocket without sparing it a glance.

 

When he emerged from the bathroom five minutes later, Chanyeol was nowhere to be found and Baekhyun again thanked his lucky stars. He hoped they didn't have another run in before the night ended.

 

Feeling sufficiently partied-out, Baekhyun began his quest to find his friends and convince them it was time to go.

 

It didn't take him long to spot Jongin in the back yard; his shirt was missing and Baekhyun was pretty sure he saw phone numbers written in permanent marker all over his shoulder blades. Jongdae stumbled into his view not long after, still fully dressed but obviously drunk out of his mind.

 

_At least someone is having a good time._

 

“So… Baekkie, having fun?” Jongdae began, hiccuping halfway through and sending Jongin into a fit of unexplained giggles.

 

Baekhyun stared at the pair with dead eyes, clearly unamused. He decided first thing Monday he was going to find new, sober, friends.

 

“I’m ready to go, and from the looks of it you two are definitely ready for bed,” Baekhyun stated authoritatively, making use of his privileged hyung status.

 

“Awhh, but we were having so much fun,” Jongin whined, throwing an arm around Jongdae's shoulders and sending the two stumbling sideways.

 

“Don’t care. Let’s go,” Baekhyun said before turning on his heels and heading back into the house.

 

“Wait! Let me go to the bathroom first. I gotta piss like a seahorse!” Jongdae exclaimed before running past Baekhyun, presumably in the direction of the bathroom.

 

Jongin scrunched his brow in contemplation, repeating “ _Sea_ horse?” while Baekhyun facepalmed.

 

 

 

 

After Jongdae (whom Baekhyun decided he would affectionately refer to as ‘ _Sea_ -biscuit’ for the foreseeable future) had emptied his bladder, Baekhyun was amazed that dumb and dumber left the party without any further complaints. He was even a little proud of himself as they rounded the corner on an adjacent block.

 

“I think the neighbors have a pool.”

 

He should have known better.

 

Before he could fully turn around and tell Jongin and Jongdae to forget about it, the pair took off — running through the neighbors yard with gleeful yelps.

 

“Come on Baekhyun!” Jongdae screamed and he began to hop the fence.

 

Baekhyun caught up with them quickly, because apparently fence hopping was more complicated when intoxicated, and attempted to pull them off the wood fence by their shirt collars. Well, in Jongin’s case, his belt loops since his shirt was still M.I.A.

 

“Don’t even think about it idiots,” Baekhyun grumbled, trying his best to tug the pair back to ground level.

 

“Please Baekhyun,” Jongdae pouted, removing one had from the top of the fence, “They don’t even look like they’re home. No one will know”

 

“It’s breaking and entering, fuckwit. We have a pool on campus that you can go swim in first thing in the morning to work off that hangover.”

 

“But we wanna swim now,” Jongin wined slowly. Baekhyun began to wonder if the pair had consumed more than alcohol that evening.

 

While Baekhyun took a moment to collect his thoughts, Jongdae and Jongin saw the perfect opportunity to hoist themselves over the fence and out of Bakehyun’s grip. He had no choice but to follow frantically as the two discarded their clothes, making a beeline for the dark waters.

 

Baekhyun, whose eyes were still adjusting to the consuming darkness, could vaguely hear Jongin shout “Cannonball!” before the sound of splashing overtook the once quiet back yard.

 

Knowing that he’d already lost this round of Sensible Baekhyun vs the Kim Idiots, Baekhyun decided to throw caution to the wind and began to strip down to his boxers and approach the darkened waters. He could hear Jongdae and Jongin giggling in infantile-like glee as they splashed merrily around the pool — probable pretending to be sea otters or something stupid like that.

 

Once his pants were neatly folded on the lawn, Baekhyun quietly charged for the pool, hoping to scare the crap out of the duo as some sort of revenge. As he pushed himself off the ledge, he released a blood-curdling scream that was hopefully scary enough to make Jongin squeal like a little girl, but hopefully not frightening enough to cause Jongdae to pee in the water.

 

 

It was all fun and games until Baekhyun caught the tell-tale signs of flashlights in his peripheral vision. Before he even had a chance to signal to Jongdae and Jongin that perhaps they should make a run for it, a voice was telling them to stop what they were doing and climb out of the pool with their hands in the air.

 

 

 

Baekhyun’s mind was abuzz with thoughts ranging from _Cold_ to _Wet_ and most importantly _Idiots_ as the trio was collected and deposited into the back seat of the police cruiser. Thankfully, the police man had been kind enough to let Baekhyun grab his pants and shirt before cuffing him. He had _not_ been kind enough to avoiding shining his megawatt flashlight on Jongdae — who apparently had decided to go for the full skinny-dip experience — as the three were climbing out of the pool.

 

“Really Jongdae? Naked?” Baekhyun grumbled, to himself more than anyone as he sat nestled in the back seat between two Kims.

 

“Something about the pool waters in the moonlight made me feel wild and free,” Jongdae sighed dreamily, seemingly unconcerned with their current predicament.

 

Jongin, on the other had, looked scared shitless, which only served to confirm Baekhyun’s suspicions that he ingested more than alcohol that evening.

 

Turning his attention to the youngest he whispered bitterly, “You know, Silent Bob, the side-effect of paranoia should have stopped you from hopping that fence.”

 

Jongin gave no response, his eyes opened freakishly wide as he looked straight ahead in horror (probably still stoned out of his wits).

 

Baekhyun definitely needed new friends.

 

 

 

Baekhyun had pride. Which was exactly why he refused to call his parents to bail him out. He was especially convinced that was a good decision after watching a still silent (and still shirtless) Jongin be ushered away by his mother with his tail between his legs.

 

Luckily — the police officer had told them after Jongin’s departure — the owners had no intention of filing charges for trespassing. The trio would be responsible for a noise violation and trespassing ticket, but that hardly seemed like a huge consequence.

 

 _Unfortunately_ , since the police officer had deemed the boys to be under the influence of various substances they would need to be released into someone’s care to leave the police station.

 

Jongdae, still unconcerned, had already phoned his boyfriend and was waiting patiently for Joonmyeon’s arrival. Baekhyun assumed he could tag along with the couple until Jongdae pushed him back down into the uncomfortable plastic chair.

 

“If you wanted favors, you shouldn’t have made such a disgusted face when you saw my naked ass.”

 

Joonmyeon, already jealous enough that Jongdae revealed his greatest asset to the world, supported his boyfriend’s decision and ushered a smug and still drunk Jongdae to his car — not before scowling at Baekhyun (no doubt blaming the entire situation on him).

 

Baekhyun was left alone in the police station with a grumpy looking patrolman and a shocking absence of donuts.

 

The cherry on top of his perfect evening (now early morning) came with the realization that his phone had run out of battery. Being a child of the twenty-first century, Baekhyun had long since stopped memorizing phone numbers.

 

It’s then that an idea popped into his head and he frantically shoved his hand into his back pocket, hoping that he hadn’t lost it.

 

“ _Aha_!” He exclaimed to himself as he produced the thin slip of paper from his back pocket — starling the snoozing police man behind the desk.

 

Since he already had the officer’s attention, Baekhyun politely asked if could use the phone resting on his desk. It wasn’t until he was holding the receiver to his ear, ready to dial, that he realized the business card was for ‘Yoo Plumbing.’ However, the phone number originally printed at the bottom of the card had been scratched out, a handwritten string of digits written above it, proceeded by the also handwritten name, ‘Park Chanyeol.’

 

Baekhyun had so many opinions he would like to share with this ‘Park Chanyeol’ about how to effectively distribute your phone number, but he also had bigger fish to fry at the moment — like getting out of jail.

 

Hoping he was reading the numbers correctly, Baekhyun dailed and waited for the call to connect.

 

It was four rings before a sleepy voice grumbled a shaky “Hello?”

 

“Hey Chanyeol, this is Baekhyun.”

 

“Baekhyun?” the deep voice questioned, obviously still half unconscious before an “Oh! Baekhyun!”

 

Happy that his potential saviour seemed conscious enough, Baekhyun began his pitch. “Right, Baekhyun from Postmodernism. You gave me your number at the party toni- last night.”

 

He was met with dead silence on the other end, so he thought he might as well skip to the point.

 

“You said you wanted to take me out sometime, right?”

 

Baekhyun could hear shuffling through the other end of the line before the groggy voice eagerly responded “Uh, yes! I do. Whenever you’re free.”

 

“How does right now work for you?”

 

“Right now, as in four in the morning on a Sunday?” Baekhyun couldn’t tell if Chanyeol’s tone was incredulous, wary or just plain sleepy, but he pushed forward anyway.

 

“I don’t see why not,” He answered cheerfully.

 

There was a moment of consideration before the voice on the other end of the line responded.

 

“Uh, I guess. Let me like, put on some pants first,” Chanyeol mumbled. Baekhyun could hear him begin to move around his dorm room. Presumably tracking town suitable attire. Baekhyun didn’t think it would be this easy, but he was not about to complain.

 

“Where can I meet you?” Chanyeol asked moments later, “On the quad or….?”

 

Baekhyun smiled almost menacingly to himself, “Actually, I’m already out. How about you come pick me up?”

 

After Chanyeol’s agreement, Baekhyun relayed the address of the precinct, deliberately omitting any reference to ‘police station’ or ‘jail.’

 

Twenty or so minutes later, Baekhyun smiled once again as he noticed a now familiar gangly boy stumble into the precinct with confusion written clearly all over his face. In that moment, Chanyeol — with his obvious bed head and sleepy eyes — was kind of adorable to Baekhyun. The man had yet to spot him, and looked to be about 10 seconds from either turning on his heel and leaving or pulling out his cell phone to double check the meeting place with Baekhyun.

 

Chanyeol’s eyes probably doubled in size when he finally noticed Baekhyun sitting there, nonchalantly waving him over.

 

“You’re in jail?” were the first words out of his mouth once he’s in hearing range.

 

Baekhyun shrugged his shoulders apathetically, “It’s a long story.”

 

 

 

After all had been sorted -- thankfully no bail had to be posted -- Baekhyun exited the police station with a still-confused Chanyeol in toe.

 

“Did you call me just to bail you out of jail?” Chanyeol asked quietly as the precinct doors automatically shut behind them.

 

Baekhyun turned. For a moment he felt slightly guilty, as that was his only motivation for taking Chanyeol up on his offer. But he wasn’t about to let Chanyeol know that, not when he looked so defeated standing there with his brows slightly furrowed and a pout making its way across his lips -- he wasn’t that big of an asshole.

 

“No, not entirely” Baekhyun said gently.. “You said you wanted to grab coffee sometime, and I could definitely use coffee after the evening I’ve had. It all seemed to fall into place.” the corners of Chanyeol’s lips turned up slightly, but he still looked unconvinced. “You know,” Baekhyun added, “I’m just following the idea of spontaneous order or whatever the hell that one guy wrote about.”

 

Chanyeol’s brows remained scrunched for a moment longer before a small smile overtook his features, “I don’t think Schutz was discussing spontaneous coffee dates when he theorized spontaneous order.” Chanyeol shook his head, laughing more to himself than at Baekhyun.

 

Baekhyun reciprocated the smile, proud of himself for even remembering something from that god-awful Postmodernism class. “Regardless, here we are… and I think it’s high time we get that coffee.”

 

That seemed to be enough for Chanyeol, who broke out in a wide grin. Baekhyun wondered how Chanyeol could suddenly be so awake at four thirty in the morning.

 

“Is anywhere even open at this hour?” Chanyeol mused, with a newly found optimistic tone.

 

“I think I saw a 24 hour diner around the corner when I was in the police car,” Baekhyun said after a moment of consideration. Once he saw Chanyeol give a nod of understanding, Baekhyun began to head off in what he hoped was the right direction.

 

 

The short walk was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Baekhyun could feel his stomach begin to grumble the closer they got to their destination. Sure enough, as the pair turned a corner onto the main road, a run-down, neon “Diner” sign came into view.

 

The yellow glow from the sign reflected in the windows of the dingy looking structure, which, in its present state was clearly a far cry from the upkeep of its glory days. Chanyeol fearlessly approached the glass door of the establishment, excitedly jabbering on about breakfast foods. It took a moment for the man to realize Baekhyun was locked in place, staring up at the neon sign, apprehension and slight terror written all over his face.

 

“I guess this is it,” Chanyeol encouraged. Baekhyun again wondered how the guy could have so much enthusiasm for what looked like a guaranteed unpleasant encounter with his own toilet once the food had digested.

 

Baekhyun switched his focus from the neon lights on the roof to Chanyeol, eyes looking full of questions but his mouth voicing none of them. Baekhyun wondered if perhaps this had been a bad idea. Maybe he should have just waited in the station until the officers had no choice but to release him: that option would at least have saved him and over-enthusiastic giant and probably posed no risk of salmonella poisoning. His exhaustion had also began hitting him hard, and he figured he was about 30 minutes from passing out on the nearest flat surface. He must have been delirious with tiredness because even the questionable retro-vinyl booths were becoming appealing sleeping surfaces.

 

For the second time that evening, Baekhyun decided ‘fuck it’ and made his way through the glass door Chanyeol has chivalrously propped open with one of his long legs. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could return to his tiny dorm room and sleep for the remainder of his Sunday.

 

Once the pair had fully entered the establishment, they were greeted by a young waitress who looked just as skeptical of the pair as Baekhyun was of the restaurant. She raised an eyebrow before grabbing two menus and silently directing the pair toward a booth by the window.

 

“The pancakes are probably the only thing that’s safe to order.” Baekhyun grumbled as the pair began to look over their respective menus.

 

“That’s perfectly okay with me,” Chanyeol grinned while his eyes scanned the menu.. “I really like pancakes. It’s a shame the dorm rooms don’t come with a stove and the caf insists on serving healthy breakfast options every morning.”

 

Chanyeol continued to point out all the optional toppings, each one more exciting than the last. How about blueberries AND chocolate syrup?

 

Baekhyun was kind of being a horrible date, and he knew it. But there was a questionable green stain on the wall above the stove and he was also pretty sure the floor had not been properly mopped in approximately a decade.

 

Trying to at least be amicable, Baekhyun attempted conversation, “What’s your favorite thing to put on pancakes?”

 

“Hmm… probably more pancakes.” Chanyeol said cheekily, eyes still racking over the menu. “Look! They have link sausage! I haven’t had that in ages.”

 

Baekhyun gave a forced chuckle and took a moment to take in the stranger sitting across the booth from him. He had changed out of the button down shirt he was wearing earlier that evening and was now in a simple T-shirt, his bed head obviously attempted to be wrangled with a slash or two of water and a quick comb through.

 

His appraisal of his classmate was cut short by the waitress asking if they were ready to order. Baekhyun stuck to a simple order of plain pancakes and black coffee while Chanyeol took about twenty seconds listing all the items he wanted to include with his mega-stack of pancakes..

 

After the food had been ordered, Chanyeol made a few attempts at conversation, finally asking Baekhyun how he ended up in the police station at three in the morning.

 

Baekhyun recounted the evening, throwing several insults at his idiot friends along the way. He was surprised Chanyeol simply laughed at the situation rather than judging him and his friends for their poor decision making.

 

“I wish I had stories like that to tell my friends,” Chanyeol thew in before digging into his pancakes. “Unfortunately, I’m a bit too lame to risk getting arrested or even to skinny dip. I also have no desire to see Sehun nor Yifan naked.”

 

“I never asked to see Jongdae naked,” Baekhyun corrected quickly, “it was as much a shock to me as it was to that poor police officer.”

 

Chanyeol nodded his head as he continued to stuff his face. Baekhyun made work of pushing his food around his plate, while really only ingesting small bites here and there in between gulps of his coffee.

 

Luckily for Baekhyun, Chanyeol seemed perfectly able to carry the conversation on his own, only requiring the occasional nod from the sleepy delinquent. Baekhyun was caught of guard that Chanyeol seemed to know he was a Sustainability major, especially because he knew next to nothing about Chanyeol.

 

At the pace Chanyeol was eating, the impromptu breakfast quickly came to an end. Chanyeol insisted on paying the bill since he was the one to ask Baekhyun out in the first place.

 

The two exited the diner just as the first flickers of sunlight were beginning to peak out over the skyline. Baekhyun hadn’t stayed up this late (or early) in a long time, and he longed for nothing more than to be reunited with his bed. Chanyeol, sensing Baekhyun was about to pass out at any moment, quietly began to steer the pair towards campus. He kept a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder to steady him along the way. Baekhyun was too tired to shove it off.

 

 

“You dorm in North Hall, right?” Chanyeol asked once the campus came into view.

 

Baekhyun halted, a gravely serious expression overtaking his features as he turned and pressed a palm to Chanyeol’s chest, signaling for him to stop as well.

 

“I have a very serious question for you, Chanyeol. Answer honestly.” Baekhyun said with a new found serious tone.

 

Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol’s eyes widened, looking back and forth between the hand on his chest and Baekhyun’s face. Chanyeol gulped before Baekhyun continued.

 

“Are you some kind of stalker?”

 

If it were possible, Chanyeol’s eyes widened even further as he threw his hands up in defense, shaking them in vehement denial as incoherent syllables fell from his lips. Baekhyun managed to catch, “no,” “I’ve just seen you around,” and “I swear I’m not creepy” before he decided he should probably stop the poor guy before he had an aneurysm.

 

Baekhyun quirked a brow and waited for Chanyeol’s panicked syllables to subside before he began laughing, half at the confused fear in Chanyeol’s eyes and half from his own over-tiredness. Withdrawing his palm from Chanyeol’s chest, he muttered a quick “Okay, good,” and turned on his heel, once again continuing towards the dorms.

 

He heard Chanyeol mutter something else behind him, and turned around to see Chanyeol still standing where he left him.

 

“What was that?” He asked.

 

“I said, someone-would-be-a-fool-not-to-notice-you.” The words came out in a rush, but Baekhyun caught every one of them. A blush instantly tinting his cheeks as his lips molded themselves into a cheeky smile.

 

“You’re cute,” he said without thinking. He could see surprise take over Chanyeol’s face before he grinned far too wide for 5:30 am, and moved to walk next to Baekhyun with a new-found spring in his step.

 

Chanyeol walked him all the way to his dorm room, despite Baekhyun’s instances, “The police _did_ release you into my care,” Chanyeol teased, “I think it’s only fitting that I make sure you make it all the way home safely.”

 

 

 

 

“Sorry for being an ass Saturday night.” Jongdae said as he and Joonmyeon occupied the seats across from Jongin and Baekhyun in the cafeteria the following Monday.

 

“It’s alright. I don’t forgive you for the nudity though.” Baekhyun responded, absently playing with his phone with one hand while eating french fries with the other.

 

“Fair enough,” Jongdae laughed while Joonmyeon grimaced. Joonmyeon attempted to take his frustration out on the ketchup packet he was tearing open, but he must have squeezed too hard and the red goo squirted all over his J Crew sweater vest instead of his plate.

 

“Oh Fiddlesticks!” Joonmyeon shouted, earning stares from the adjacent tables before he flung himself out of his chair and made a beeline for the bathroom.

 

Once Joonmyeon was out of hearing range, Jongdae leaned across the table, poking Baekhyun’s shoulder.

 

“So, a little birdie told me that they saw you sneaking back into North at 6am with a tall stranger,” He teased with a smug smile.

 

“I honestly think you should be more concerned that your boyfriend just said fiddlesticks un-ironically,” Baekhyun responded flatly, looking up briefly from his phone screen with a challenging stare.

 

Ignoring Baekhyun’s attitude, Jongin cut in, “This is news to me! No seriously, who was he?”

 

Deciding there was no point in beating around the bush, Baekhyun conceded the information the pair was after. “A guy named Chanyeol from my Postmodernism class. He gave me his number at the party while you two were off getting trashed, and I ended up calling him after you both abandoned me.”

 

“...and?” Jongdae drawled.

 

“We went for pancakes -- which the guy was a little too excited about -- then he walked me home.”

 

Jongin pouted. “That’s kind of boring actually.”

 

For a moment, Baekhyun was slightly offended. He didn’t really understand why, but it seemed cruel to him to simply dismiss the evening as ‘boring’ when it had easily become one of his stranger college adventure tales. Even Chanyeol’s odd excitement -- though the guy was not really his type -- had endeared the evening to Baekhyun. He didn’t really have any intentions of going for a second round of questionable diner food, but that didn’t mean he thought badly of the night. In fact, Chanyeol and the questionable diner may have been the highlight of an otherwise crappy morning.

 

Echoes of Chanyeol’s mini confession ran through his mind and Baekhyun couldn’t help but smile at the memory, completely missing the knowing stares Jongin and Jongdae directed at one another.

 

 

 

Baekhyun knew that facing Chanyeol again in Postmodernism would be inevitable. For some reason, the idea made him slightly anxious. He woke up thirty minutes earlier than usual that Wednesday and decided to spend the extra time putting effort into his hair. Generally he woke up about 15 minutes before class and shuffled in with bedhead around five minutes after the lecture began. Today, however, Baekhyun found himself seated in his usual seat in the back row five minutes early.

 

A couple of minutes later, a familiar lanky frame entered the room, causing Baekhyun to sit up straight as he tried to casually look anywhere but at his tall peer.

 

His eyes, however, had different ideas once they caught sight of Chanyeol making his way towards Baekhyun. Something was different about Chanyeol today. It took Baekhyun a second before he realized he was wearing glasses -- an accessory Baekhyun had never taken the time to notice Chanyeol sporting before. If he was being completely honest with himself -- which he almost never was -- the guy looked pretty good in specs. They certainly suited his dorky personality more than the quiffed hair and button down shirt he had been wearing at the party that past weekend.

 

Unlike Baekhyun’s attempts to look anywhere but the giant, Chanyeol spotted Baekhyun almost immediately and offered a wide smile and nod before approaching him.

 

“I tried to call you Sunday and check-up on you, but the number I had for you turned out to be the local police precinct.”

 

“Oh?” Baekhyun said apathetically, hoping this conversation wasn’t going where he thought it was. He didn’t want to give Chanyeol the wrong idea about Sunday morning.

 

“Yeah I got an earful about respecting the law and not wasting their time trying to track down my ‘hot date,’” Chanyeol said lightly, “And apparently someone’s doberman is missing in the neighborhood, I was instructed to spread the word. He responds to ‘Sparky’ and likes long walks on the beach.”

 

“Thats… odd.” Baekhyun said, not really sure how to respond.

 

“Their words, not mine,” Chanyeol laughed, putting his hands up in his own defense. Chanyeol surprised Baekhyun by choosing to sit in the desk directly next to Baekhyun’s own instead of his usual seat one row ahead. Baekhyun raised a brow skeptically, but made no further comment. Once Chanyeol was completely situated -- with his notebook open to a blank page and pen at the ready -- he turned to give Baekhyun a wide smile.

 

Baekhyun couldn’t help but laugh himself, feeling the tell tale sign of a blush creeping up his cheeks as Chanyeol smiled over at him. The look in his eyes was little overwhelming and Baekhyun quickly turned his attention to the entering professor at the front of the classroom.

 

The lecturer got to work quickly, effectively preventing any further attempts from Chanyeol to get Baekhyun’s number -- which Baekhyun decided was probably for the best.

 

While the lecturer droned on and on about the spectacle and mass production, Baekhyun found himself distracted by his own thoughts as opposed to his usual distraction of his twitter feed. Baekhyun knew he was all about guys with smooth lines who sent sparks up his spine with a simple brush of the hand -- flirty touches and subtle innuendo. Baekhyun could hold his own with guys like that, biting back just as fiercely with his own vaguely suggestive remark before sealing the deal. Baekhyun was not accustomed to blushing simply from an awkward smile or equally awkward compliments. Chanyeol was no different from the select few other guys (not that Baekhyun was overwhelmed with admirers) he had rejected in the past. No, Baekhyun decided, Chanyeol definitely wasn’t his type -- his body simply didn’t know how to handle the seller's attention and creepy smile and defaulted to blushing in lieu of an appropriate reaction. That was all.

 

With his mind made up, Baekhyun decided that setting Chanyeol straight early on would be the best option, before the poor guy expected a follow up date that could potentially feature waffles instead of pancakes.

 

When class came to a close, Chanyeol once again turned his attention towards Baekhyun, who was hurriedly shoving his laptop into his backpack in an attempt to avoid further conversation.

 

Noticing Baekhyun’s quick movements, Chanyeol asked, “In a hurry to get out of here?” His tone casual, though Baekhyun caught a hint of disappointment in his eyes when he glanced at the taller.

 

“Something like that. I… have lunch plans.” Baekhyun lied.

 

“At ten in the morning?” Chanyeol raised an eyebrow.

 

“I meant brunch plans,” Baekhyun corrected, standing up from his desk and flinging his backpack over his shoulder. “Well, I guess I’ll see you next week!” He offered before rushing out of the classroom, leaving a confused Chanyeol in his wake.

 

 

 

Baekhyun’s school week continued as normal, though he had a few more assignments added to his workload. His digital photography elective midterm was coming up and he needed to make a quick stop at the campus print lab so he would have contact sheets to present to his professor later that afternoon.

 

Having never used the lab before, Baekhyun was slightly surprised to find it so abandoned. He pushed the door open, causing the bells above it to ring and signaling to whomever was on shift that a customer had finally arrived.

 

It wasn’t long before he was greeted by a blank-faced, raven haired boy who looked to be around his own age. Said boy offered no greeting as Baekhyun approached the counter; instead he offered a look of pure disdain as if he was mentally cursing Baekhyun for showing up and forcing him to do his job.

 

_If looks could kill, this guy would probably be a serial killer._

 

When Baekhyun was close enough to the counter, he gave his most pleasant smile as he read the attendant’s name tag: Kyungsoo. He made a mental note to avoid said owl-eyed student in the future. The attendant still refused to talk, instead raising his eyebrows in a challenging manner and forcing Baekhyun to verbalize why he had disrupted his otherwise peaceful shift.

 

“I, uh, need to print a couple of contact sheets,” Baekhyun began, producing his flash drive out of his pocket, “They’re stored on here titled: ‘midterm series.’”

 

Kyungsoo looked down at the flash drive before sighing heavily and picking it up like it was the most burdensome piece of equipment he had ever encountered, moving back towards one of the plotting computers and plugging it in.

 

It was then that a series of footsteps could be heard approaching from the back office.

 

“Kyungsoo, are you scaring off customers again?” A familiar voice teased. Baekhyun’s eyes widened as he made eye contact with an equally surprised Chanyeol. He wasn’t wearing his glasses today -- which Baekhyun found oddly disappointing -- instead he was wearing a lame black vest with a nametag of his own that had been decorated with sparkly smiley face stickers.

 

“Oh hey, Baekhyun. What brings you by the print lab?”

 

“You work here?” Baekhyun said at the same time, causing them both to chuckle awkwardly. Kyungsoo looked between the pair and rolled his eyes once again.

 

“Work study. I’m good with computers,” Chanyeol said proudly, though not nearly as enthusiastically as Baekhyun had grown accustomed to.

 

“That’s… nice,” Baekhyun said lamely, wondering why he felt so incredibly awkward all of the sudden.

 

Instead of attempting to force more words out of Baekhyun, Chanyeol turned his attention to the sulking Kyungsoo who was now seated at the computer, pulling up Baekhyun’s requested files. Baekhyun could hear Chanyeol talking lowly to the petite demon before the sotic boy broke out in one of the most blinding smiles Baekhyun had ever seen; his eyes curved into little crescents as his mouth formed a lovely heart shape.

 

 _What the hell._ A minute ago that kid looked about ready to murder anyone who so much as came within 200 meters of him and now he was smiling up at Chanyeol like he was five years old and Chanyeol had just promised him cotton candy. What kind of guy was Chanyeol to make a guy who was very possibly the spawn of satan smile like that?

 

Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel a little jealous when he saw Chanyeol reciprocate Kyungsoo’s smile before patting his head and disheveling his hair. He quickly shook his head at the thought.

 

Moving his attention back to Baekhyun, Chanyeol approached the counter. “Don’t let Kyungsoo scare you off. He’s actually a pretty sweet guy -- he just has a crippling hatred of ninety-nine percent of humanity.”

 

“I can see that,” Baekhyun said, still in awe of the interaction he had just witnessed.

 

Chanyeol proceeded to ring up Baekhyun’s order before excusing himself for his lunch break, making no further attempts to engage Baekhyun in conversation and ultimately leaving Baekhyun alone with the once again stoic faced Kyungsoo.

 

Baekhyun left the print lab feeling oddly unsettled and he couldn’t tell if it was from the way Kyungsoo shot daggers at him or the way Chanyeol hadn’t even attempted to talk to him and instead focused on making Kyungsoo smile.

 

 

 

With midterms fast approaching, it was no surprise that half of the student body was holed up in the library that Tuesday night with their noses buried in textbooks. Baekhyun was no exception as he attempted to recall any helpful bit of information from his Postmodernist class that would help him with his 10 page essay.

 

He probably should have paid more attention.

 

Groaning at his own lack of forethought, Baekhyun pushed his laptop aside and rested his head on the cold wood desk. He opened his eyes a few moments later to be greeted by a denim crotch a couple feet from his eye level. Surprised, he gasped before following the trail of the stranger’s body up to their face. He was even more surprised when he was greeted by the sideways image of a smiling Chanyeol who was cocking his head to one side and laughing slightly under his breath.

 

“Frustrated?” Chanyeol inquired, half teasing.

 

Baekhyun again groaned before pinching the bridge of his nose and sitting upright.

 

“Why is Postmodernism a thing? I knew I should have taken Social Psychology, they get to build a model for the midterm instead of bullshitting a ten page paper.”

 

At this, Chanyeol chuckled. He then walked around Baekhyun to occupy the seat next to him.

 

“I’m pretty good with this stuff,” Chanyeol offered hesitantly, “I could proofread your paper if you’d like?”

 

Chanyeol waited for Baekhyun to give a thankful nod before pulling Baekhyun’s laptop towards himself and scrolling through the paper. Chanyeol was a remarkably silent reader and Baekhyun couldn’t help but admire the way his eyes focused on the screen. While reading, he never once grimaced at Baekhyun’s horrible word choice, nor did he scoff when Baekhyun blatantly misquoted some philosopher.

 

While Chanyeol was busy reading, Baekhyun was busy observing Chanyeol. His eyes were quickly drawn to the way Chanyeol worried his bottom lip between his teeth -- he wondered how he’d never noticed how plump Chanyeol’s lips were. (He also realized that the shape of Chanyeol’s lips vaguely reminded him of a pokeball).

 

When Chanyeol was done reading over Baekhyun’s 5 pages, he turned his head towards the petite brunette, startling him out of his daydreams about Chanyeol’s lips ( _how did that even happen?_ ).

 

Chanyeol smiled encouragingly, “It’s actually pretty good. I think you just need to zero in on a more clear thesis and double check the context of some of the quotes you have pulled.” Baekhyun nodded dumbly, more caught up in how Chanyeol’s lips moved when he talked, slanting ever so slightly to one side.

 

“I’ll underline some things you need to fix, if that’s okay?” Chanyeol offered once he realized he probably wasn’t going to get anything else out of Baekhyun. Once again the brunette nodded.

 

Chanyeol then moved the laptop between them and began to point out little things here and there, typing memos to Baekhyun within the paper and reaching across the table to place sticky notes in various books where Baekhyun could pull more quotes. Eager for the assistance, Baekhyun complied with all of Chanyeol’s requests and even jotted down some notes in his own notebook as Chanyeol continued to go through the paper paragraph by paragraph.

 

“Don’t you have your own paper to write?” Baekhyun interrupted suddenly as the thought hit him. Chanyeol looked hurt for a moment before Baekhyun realized how that statement came out, quickly scrambling to clarify, “Not that I’m not thankful for your help, I _really_ am. But I don’t want you to not work on your own paper just because you’re helping me.” Baekhyun drifted off towards the end of the sentence, wondering when he suddenly became so concerned about the guy he has nicknamed ‘Tall Asshole’ and had cursed under his breath until two weeks ago.

 

Chanyeol patted Baekhyun on the back before flashing a reassuring smile, “No worries on that front,” he said, “I finished up all my papers this week. I don’t like pushing things to the last minute -- not that that’s a bad thing!” He quickly added, so as to not offend Baekhyun, “... it just isn’t really my style.”

 

Baekhyun nodded in understanding and considered that maybe he should learn from Chanyeol’s study habits.

 

“Kyungsoo and I even celebrated our early finish by going out to breakfast,” Chanyeol added excitedly, “I took him back to that diner you and I went to and he actually enjoyed it.”

 

Baekhyun wasn’t sure why the image of Kyungsoo and Chanyeol sitting and laughing together in that dingy diner knocked the air out of him -- Chanyeol probably coaxed even more smiles out of Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo probably didn’t look like he was on the verge of vomiting the entire time they ate. Kyungsoo was probably a much better date than Baekhyun had been.

 

“You okay?” Chanyeol interrupted Baekhyun’s whirlwind of thoughts, “I promise this paper won’t be too stressful to finish with the notes I gave you!” He added pleasantly, smiling at Baekhyun and moving his hand to rub Baekhyun’s shoulder reassuringly. Baekhyun was thankful Chanyeol had misinterpreted his sudden change of mood, as he couldn’t really verbalize why the idea of Chanyeol taking Kyungsoo to the diner upset him. It wasn’t like the place was sacred.

 

“I’m fine,” Baekhyun lied, attempting his most genuine smile, “It’s just a little stressful. That being said, I think I can take it from here. You’re welcome to go.” Baekhyun knew it sounded like a dismissal, and honestly it probably was. First Chanyeol’s lips and now Kyungsoo at the diner. Baekhyun needed a break from the smiley giant.

 

“Well then, I won’t distract you any more,” Chanyeol said, only a slight drag in his voice.

 

And with that, Chanyeol was off, leaving Baekhyun with a series of conflicting thoughts.

 

He made quick work of re-reading through Chanyeol’s typed notes on the screen, and couldn’t help but smile to himself when he noticed “ _Fighting! ^^ -PCY_ ” typed after the very last paragraph.

 

 

 

The next day in class, Chanyeol returned to his usual seat in front of Baekhyun and only spared Baekhyun a moment to make sure he finished his paper and slept well -- leaving Baekhyun slightly unsatisfied for the remainder of the morning.

 

 

 

Another Saturday night, another party. Baekhyun definitely was not a fan of Frat parties, but Jongin had insisted and Baekhyun honestly had nothing better to do than sit at home and play on the computer (and maybe think about a certain Tall Asshole who had really nice lips and dorky glasses.)

 

Unfortunately for Baekhyun, his mind was not cleared of thoughts of his classmate even in the presence of dozens of drunken college idiots. Deciding to join in on the debauchery at hand, Baekhyun wasted little time in joining in on a few rounds of beer pong as well as joining a few frat boys for a couple rounds of shots.

 

He was stumbling out of the kitchen, wiping his mouth and grimacing at the bitter aftertaste, when he noticed a familiar figure leaning against the living room wall. Before Baekhyun could give himself a moment to think better of his actions, he was moving across the living room like a moth drawn to light.

 

“I thought you said parties weren’t your thing?” Baekhyun hollered as he strutted towards Chanyeol, his slight slur betraying his composed front. When he finally reached his destination (only a few minor trips along the way), he leaned himself against the wall, mirroring Chanyeol’s stance.

 

“Are you drunk?” Chanyeol asked, ignoring Baekhyun’s original question.

 

“Does the Pope shit in the woods?” Baekhyun countered quickly.

 

“Um, no?”

 

“Ah fuck. well, I’m not not drunk,” Baekhyun smiled sheepishly up at Chanyeol. “But you never answered my question. Parties aren’t your thing, why are you here?”

 

“They aren’t, but someone had to be the sober buddy this evening and I’m not one to let my friends make horrible decisions... in a frat house no less. Nothing good ever happens in frat houses.” Chanyeol supplied slowly, a little caught off guard by the way Baekhyun was staring at him.

 

“Fair enough,” Baekhyun nodded in consideration. Chanyeol was looking strangely adorable tonight; he was once again wearing the glasses Baekhyun realized he was quite fond of, looking around the room while clutching his soda can in one hand. He looked like the type of guy Baekhyun would usually write of as dweeb on any other occasion, but Chanyeol somehow made it work.

 

Baekhyun nodded, agreeing with his own thoughts as he made a very serious decision of his own. “Do you want to maybe go somewhere more quiet to talk?” Baekhyun suggested, earning a surprised eyebrow raise from the taller.

 

“Uh, sure?” Chanyeol agreed. With that, Baekhyun began to pull Chanyeol through the frat house towards an unoccupied bedroom he thought was his friend Yixing’s.

 

There was a reason that Baekhyun was friends with Jongin and Jongdae, because despite his semi-rational thinking, he was just as impulsive as the duo. Which explains why, after staring at Chanyeol’s lips for the past 20 seconds, he felt the need to kiss him senseless. Baekhyun had barely pulled Chanyeol into the dark room before the leaned up on his tip toes and crashed his lips against Chanyeol’s, earning a surprised grunt from the taller as his hands found purchase on Baekhyun’s slim waist. Baekhyun swore he had lead Chanyeol up to the quiet space to have a talk, so he had no idea why he was suddenly kissing the guy with such vigor.

 

Who was he kidding. He’d been thinking about kissing those stupid round lips since he saw Chanyeol gnawing at them while he proofread his midterm paper.

 

Drunk Baekhyun decided then that he needed to get this out of his system so he could continue on with his normal life. A quick make-out session would probably do the trick. However, once he got a taste of those lips he decided maybe a quick grope should also be in order.

 

It took a couple moments before Chanyeol’s lips became more pliant under Baekhyun’s guidance and his hands splayed out fully along Baekhyun’s hips, slowly moving up and down. Baekhyun then pulled Chanyeol by his collar back towards the bed situated in the center of the room -- switching their positions and pushing Chanyeol to sit without once breaking their lip lock.

 

Once Chanyeol was fully seated, Baekhyun wasted no time in placing his legs on either side of Chanyeol and straddling him.

 

Baekhyun swore he was in heaven until he was suddenly pushed away by the same hands that were soothing him only moments ago.

 

"You know I have feelings for you, right?" Chanyeol said, pushing Baekhyun far enough away to search Baekhyun’s eyes, confusion marring his features as he looked to Baekhyun for any sort of explanation. Having no coherent thoughts in his head, Baekhyun simply laughed as he began to run his fingers through the hairs at Chanyeol’s nape while he rutted his hips ever so slightly against the taller.

 

"I know. I can feel them pressing into my thigh right now,” He said after a moment, completely missing Chanyeol’s point, “Tell you what, I'll see your 'feelings' and raise you a hand job. How's that sound?" Baekhyun added, moving his face to the hollow of Chanyeol’s neck and gently licking along the protruding lines of his collarbone before Chanyeol even had a moment to consider.

 

"Not just those kind. I like you. You know that. I can't just..."

 

“Shhh.” Baekhyun soothed, lifting his head to take in Chanyeol’s disheveled state with hungry eyes. Chanyeol’s lips looked delicious and something about his nervous mumbling made Baekhyun all the more eager to keep kissing him.

 

He shut Chanyeol up by kissing him with fervor, sloppily molding his lips against the other’s apprehensive ones. When he began to slide his hand down Chanyeol’s torso towards the growing bulge in his jeans, the taller twitched violently, pushing Baekhyun off of him and sending him off the bed and onto the floor.

 

“Ow?” Baekhyun slurred with offence, rubbing the spot where his hip had made first contact with the hardwood floor. “What was that about?”

 

“I don’t get you,” Chanyeol said with obvious confusion, “you call me up at four in the morning and ask me to take you out. Like an idiot I agree, only to realize you needed someone to bail you out of jail…”

 

“No one had to post _bail_ \--” Baekhyun added meekly, wondering where this was going and also wondering how long it would be before his hands and tongue could get back to work.

 

“Whatever. I go along with it because I’d been dreaming of asking you out all semester and I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity. I thought, even if you were just using me I might be able to win you over. But it was obvious you weren’t into it and then come Wednesday you brush me off again. So I think ‘okay, he’s just not into you,’ and I get on with my life only to have you corner me two weeks later to attack my face and offer me handjobs.”

 

Chanyeol’s frustration was evident as he lifted himself from the bed and began to tidy up his outfit and hair. Baekhyun wished he wasn’t intoxicated so he could at least attempt to explain to Chanyeol all the conflicting feelings he had had over the course of those two weeks.

 

Instead, his drunken brain got the best of him and he mumbled, “I just really like your pokeball lips,” before cringing at his own lameness.

 

Chanyeol looked confused for a brief moment before he began to walk towards the door, “Uh, that’s great. But I really can’t do this. It isn’t fair.”

 

“Isn’t fair to who? Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun asked before he could stop himself.

 

Chanyeol squinted his eyes at Baekhyun’s slumped over form. “What does Kyungsoo have to do with this? No Baekhyun, it’s not fair to me.”

 

And with that, Chanyeol was gone and Baekhyun was left alone on the floor of some Frat house bedroom, with a bruised ego to match his now bruised hip.

 

 

 

Waking up Sunday morning was a nightmare and Baekhyun continued to mope about for the remainder of his weekend, not even bothering to study for his final midterm the following day. He couldn't be sure if he was so upset from Chanyeol’s blatant rejection; from his own blue balls; or from a brewing sentiment for Chanyeol that he still refused to acknowledge.

 

 

 

Come Monday morning, both Jongin and Jongdae knew something was up. The cafeteria was serving pancakes of all things and the pair caught a disheveled Baekhyun staring at the display forlornly.

 

“I hate to break it to you, Baekhyun, but you’ve been staring at those pancakes for the past three minutes like they are a lover who just jilted you. You’re either stoned or something is up.” Jongdae said gently, ushering Baekhyun away from the display.

 

“It’s nothing,” Baekhyun said weakly, shooting one last glance at the display and trying not to imagine how happy Chanyeol would look once he realized the caf was finally serving his favorite breakfast food. Since when did he care?

 

 

 

Baekhyun was a nervous mess as he approached the print lab the following day, pulling an uncooperative Jongin along for moral support. He had no idea what Chanyeol’s schedule was, but he wasn’t quite ready to face him alone just yet. Rejection was a bitch like that.

 

The world seemed to be against Baekhyun though as Jongin received a phone call moments before they reached the door. He excused himself quickly and motioned for Baekhyun to go inside alone.

 

 _Well, here goes nothing_.

 

When the ding of the doorbell sounded, Baekhyun was not surprised to see a surly Kyungsoo appear from the back room. His expression angry as ever as a look of recognition flashed over his features.

 

Baekhyun approached the counter and didn’t wait for Kyungsoo’s silent prompting before explaining the files he needed the clerk to print. Kyungsoo looked on boredly and began to reach for Baekhyun’s flash drive when the door chimed again and Jongin entered the office, both pairs of eyes turning to the newcomer. Jongin was distracted with fitting his phone in his back pocket while he moved to join Baekhyun at the counter.

 

“I think I just did an involuntary kegel,” a surprisingly low voice mumbled behind the counter from Baekhyun, causing Baekhyun to turn his head in shock. Those were the first words Baekhyun had ever heard the raven haired clerk utter, and he was 99% sure they were about kegel-ing to his best friend.

 

Baekhyun stared at the clerk, still in shock and he noticed that while Kyungsoo still looked cross as ever, there was a new look of hunger in his eyes. If he was being quite honest, it was even more terrifying than his usual broody stare.

 

Jongin, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to the ogling and smiled widely at both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. “Hello,” he greeted politely, leaning against the counter and smiling at the clerk.

 

“H-hello,” Kyungsoo stuttered back. He almost smiled, before shaking his head and returning his usual perturbed expression.

 

Baekhyun couldn't believe his eyes. He was so busy looking on in amazement at Kyungsoo’s new found ability to emote that he almost completely forgot that there was a very good chance Chanyeol would pop in at any moment. The thought of Chanyeol triggered another realization: if Kyungsoo was looking at Jongin like he wanted to eat him for dinner, then that definitely meant there wasn’t anything between Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. Right?

 

Baekhyun was overcome with relief until he realized that if Kyungsoo wasn’t the reason Chanyeol had rejected him, then that meant Chanyeol genuinely wasn’t interested anymore. His mood quickly deflated as he turned on his heels and exited the shop. He would return for his prints later.

 

 

 

Baekhyun’s Wednesday class with Chanyeol was yet again inevitable. Only this week, instead of anxious anticipation to see Chanyeol, Baekhyun looked on with dread. He really wasn’t the best with rejection and didn’t know if he wanted to face his newfound source of both sexual and emotional frustration so soon after the Frat House incident. He couldn't even drag Jongin along for moral support this time.

 

Baekhyun felt hyper aware of Chanyeol’s presence as he watched the man enter the classroom without sparing him a glance. His heart deflated slightly at the obvious brush off. Part of him was tempted to reach out and tap Chanyeol’s shoulder, force the boy to look his way before the lecture began, but his guilt got the better of him.

 

Chanyeol, as expected, raised his hand about five minutes into the lecture and began to engage the professor in a critical analysis of something or other. Chanyeol’s voice sounded nice when it wasn’t laden with frustration and confusion like it had been last Saturday. Baekhyun thought back to the way Chanyeol had nervously said “I like you,” and he smiled sadly to himself.

 

Then it hit him. Baekhyun liked Chanyeol. Not just his lips and not just just his glasses.He was interested in Chanyeol romantically. No messy make-out and grope session could alleviate his feelings. He probably had been interested in Chanyeol for the past two weeks but was too accustomed to lust pre-existing feelings that he jumped the gun and went straight for the hookup. It wasn’t that Chanyeol didn’t like him back -- he had even said he had feelings for Baekhyun -- but drunk Baekhyun had been an idiot with a one track mind and completely misinterpreted Chanyeol’s frustrations.

 

Thinking about it further, Baekhyun realized that his affections for Chanyeol had been slowly growing since the minute he watched the gangly idiot wander into the police precinct. Just because he wasn’t raging with lust for the guy from the get go didn’t make his feelings any less valid. Chanyeol had slowly taken over his mind, occupying the spaces once filled with annoyance and apathy and replacing them with affection. Chanyeol, with his nervous twitches and awkwardly stunted syntax, planted the seed with that stupid business card and it had only continued to grow since then.

 

He also knew what Chanyeol must think of him, especially after than drunken show he put on for him Saturday night. Baekhyun gently rested his head on his desk, irritated with himself. He liked Chanyeol, that much was obvious, but his general asshole disposition may have ruined his chances before his brain was able to catch up to his heart.

 

Before he realized it, Baekhyun was subtly banging his head against his desk slowly. The lecture was now torture because the newly realized object of his affections is sitting within arms reach, talking in that deep register Baekhyun has grown to appreciate, and Baekhyun felt like there was nothing he could do about it.

 

That was until an idea hit him.

 

Baekhyun scrambled to pull a notebook out of his book bag, and opened to a blank page in a rush. He quickly jotted down a small note followed by a simple string of digits that he realized Chanyeol never had the chance to possess because Baekhyun had brushed him off that first week.

 

Baekhyun shuffled in his seat as the lecture minutes ticked by, getting more anxious by the minute. He knew what he had to do, and he hoped it would work. As soon as the lecturer excused the class, Baekhyun bolted out of his seat and was standing in front of Chanyeol’s desk. Chanyeol stared bewilderedly up at the brunette, waiting for some indication as to why Baekhyun was suddenly staring down at him so intently.

 

Baekhyun drew a deep breath for courage before verbalizing the words he had been rehearsing in his mind for the past twenty minutes.

 

“I think we got off on the wrong foot, which was entirely my fault. That being said, I’d like to take you out some time. For real this time. If you’d let me,” Baekhyun held out the small piece of paper, indicating for Chanyeol to take it from him.

 

“I’m also sorry about Saturday night, and I hope that you’ll take me up on my offer. I’d like to actually get to know you.”

 

Chanyeol hesitantly reached for the folded note and Baekhyun smiled before excusing himself. He couldn’t help but look over his shoulder as he exited the classroom, smiling to himself as he spotted Chanyeol -- still in his desk -- grinning at the now unfolded piece of paper.

_Coupon for 1 free pancake breakfast. Valid anytime, anywhere.  
(Valid only when on a date with Byun Baekhyun)_

_010-XXXX-XXXX  
(I promise no pit stops at the local precinct this time. Also, I’m sorry - BBH)._

Baekhyun had thought he had executed his plan perfectly, but when Friday rolled around without a word from Chanyeol, Baekhyun began to wonder if that smile he witnessed was one of mockery and not happiness.

 

“You look constipated,” Jongdae remarked, taking the seat across from Baekhyun in the library.

 

“Very funny,” Baekhyun said dryly, closing his textbook and laying his head on his arms. “I guess you could say I’m emotionally constipated.” He whined after a moment of consideration.

 

“Is that even a thing?” Jongdae asked before continuing, “Are you still upset because Postmodernist Wonder Boy doesn’t want in your pants anymore?”

 

“Bingo,” Baekhyun mumbled, burying his face in his elbow and groaning. “I gave him my number _and_ the promise of pancakes and still no word. I think I may have missed my chance with that one.”

 

“I never thought I’d see the day when Byun Baekhyun was moping about a bruised ego,” Jongdae said almost amazed, “But it’s only been two days, Baekhyun. Be patient. The guy would be an idiot to reject you after you did something so ridiculously cheesy.”

 

Baekhyun threw his pencil case at Jongdae’s head.

 

 

 

After a rather uneventful Saturday that included binge-watching his favorite dramas on Netflix, Baekhyun resigned himself to the possibility that maybe his gesture had been too little, too late. Though, Chanyeol had confessed to liking him only a week previous. Certainly his aggressive drunken behaviour couldn’t have put the guy off that much. Maybe he was a bad kisser.

 

Around 2am, Baekhyun gave one last check of his cellphone before plugging it into the charger and tucking himself into bed. He had just began to dream about dancing pokeballs when he was rudely awoken from his slumber by his blaring cellphone. After blindly shuffling around in the darkness, he managed to wrangle the device and noticed the time was 3:30 am as an unfamiliar string of digits flashed across the screen.

 

Heavy with sleep, he swiped his finger across the screen to accept the call, mumbling a gargled ‘hello’ into the receiver and plopping back into bed.

 

“Hey Baekhyun. This is Chanyeol.”

 

 _Oh shit_. “Chanyeol?” He asked hesitantly, now much more awake than two seconds ago.

 

“Right, Park Chanyeol from Postmodernism…”

 

_That cheeky fucker._

 

“....So, you said you wanted to go out sometime, right?” He heard the deep voice ask smugly through the device.

 

“You’ve got to be--”

 

“How does right now work for you?”

 

“fucking--”

 

“I know a place with some really fantastic pancakes.”

 

“-- kidding me.”

**Author's Note:**

> and then they did the didily-doo with maple syrup flavored lube.
> 
> kidding.
> 
> (maybe).
> 
> Funny story, I wrote this entire thing in present tense before realizing I don’t like present tense and re-writing everything.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this at least a little bit. Sorry if you expected something else. This was a more self-indulgant fic than anything else.


End file.
